The Saints are getting necessarily busy on the financial front as they try to work their way toward the salary cap and attempt to get under it.
A day after the news the Saints were considering trading defensive tackle Malcom Brown in order to achieve some cap relief, New Orleans agreed to a two-year deal with safety and special teamer J.T. Gray, keeping him with the team on a deal worth $4 million ($2 million) guaranteed, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported.
Perhaps more importantly, the Saints also restructured defensive tackle David Onyemata’s contract, creating $4.34M in cap space, per Rapoport.
The Saints are going to have to steadily chip away at their salary cap issue in a manner such as this if they want to attempt to remain competitive while also getting under the cap. A move like trading Brown would make sense, as he’s in the final year of a three-year deal and his departure combined with Onyemata’s restructure would clear nearly $10 million in space. And plenty of smaller moves — including re-signings and restructures — are sure to continue coming.
Here’s other news Around The NFL is monitoring on Wednesday:
- The following is a complete breakdown of defensive end J.J. Watt’s two-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals, per Rapoport: $12M signing bonus; $14.5M base value in Year 1; $28M base over 2 years, max $31M; $3M in incentives based on sacks; 10 sacks in 2021 gets him $1M and a $1M escalator for 2022 and 10 sacks in 2022 gets him another $1M.
- San Francisco 49ers center Weston Richburg recently underwent hip surgery, Rapoport reported, per an informed source. There is no timetable for his return. Though his future is still to be determined, Rapoport added that Richburg, who didn’t play in 2020 due to injuries and is due $8.35M in 2021, has likely played his last down in SF.
- The Miami Dolphins have hired former Patriots communications strategist Anne Noland to run their communications department as Senior Director of Football Communications, Rapoport reported. Noland becomes the third woman in the NFL to lead a team’s PR efforts, joining Amy Palcic of the Jaguars and Emily Parker of the Bengals.
